Evaluating the inclusion of people with disabilities in chronic disease prevention and health promotion programs

<>The Montana Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CCDPHP) efforts seek to “ensure conditions of health are accessible to all.” This paper summarizes: 1) enrollment data for participants with and without disabilities in statewide health promotion programs—the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), Breast and Cervical Health Program (BCHP), and Quit Line; 2) activities conducted to improve the inclusion of persons with disabilities in CCDPHP programs; and 3) future directions for program inclusion and improvement. In 2012, Montana CCDPHP programs began to add the U.S. HHS standard items on disability status to enrollment forms to better evaluate programs on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. Recent annual reports showed that there were 1,234 adults enrolled in the Montana DPP (29% had at least one type of disability (hearing, vision, ambulatory or cognitive); 4,520 adults enrolled in the Montana BCHP and 3,554 adults enrolled in the Montana Quit Line (0.8%-6.1% and 6.5% to 22.3% of respective program participants reported hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self care, or independent living disability). We will further describe these evaluations with other participant demographics and outcome data and as proportions of the program target populations living with disability. Inclusion improvement activities (e.g., advocates representing relevant data, practice, and policy in strategic planning; improvements in information accessibility and inclusiveness; and targeted training of health educators) will be reviewed within the Guidelines, Recommendations, Adaptations Including Disability (GRAIDS) framework proposed by Rimmer and colleagues. Future inclusion initiatives for the Montana CCDPHP will be outlined within the GRAIDS framework.